healthy celery root soup!

Why does every recipe for celery root soup you come across call for tons of butter and heavy cream and stuff? I dunno, I kinda like the taste of celery root....I don't really need it to be bogged down by dairy. It has so much flavor on its own, and is so good for you, that it's really a shame celery root isn't getting the treatment I think it deserves. With this in mind, I made a light celery root soup with a couple flavorful garnishes to complement, not distort, the flavor of one of my all time fave foods.

Ingredients:

1 celery root, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch-ish cubes

1 leek, roughly chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped and 1 clove, thinly sliced

3-4 cups vegetable stock (chicken would be fine, I just happened to have veggie stock)

1/2 cup whole milk (I used whole because I had it, use whatever--or don't use it at all!)

Parmiggiano reggiano

I sauteed the garlic and leeks in a tbsp of butter, then added the chopped celery root. I let this cook together in the pot, stirring occasionally, until it got really fragrant and the celery root began to soften. I added between 3 and 4 cups of vegetable stock and let that simmer away for a bit. I then pureed everything in a blender, tasted it and adjusted the seasoning, transfered it back to the pot, stirred in the milk, and let it cool.

Meanwhile, I heated some olive oil in a skillet until hot but not smoking, and placed the sliced garlic in the hot oil. I watched very carefully, occasionally turning the slices, and removed them from the oil when they were brown and crisp but had not yet burned. I placed them on a paper towel to drain and seasoned with salt.

I grated parmiggiano over the top of the soup when serving it and sprinkled garlic chips over that. This soup was incredibly filling and delicious, a great dinner. It was even better the next day, not hot but just above room temperature.